Search found 47 matches

by hamilton1
Sun Jan 15, 2017 11:17 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: The Matter of the Bullet Cluster (2017 Jan 15)
Replies: 20
Views: 4483

Re: APOD: The Matter of the Bullet Cluster (2017 Jan 15)

And because I am a complete amateur in all other fields of astronomy, I gain my knowledge from listening to the professionals. I conclude that those that hold the majority opinion among the experts are more likely to be correct than those that hold the minority opinion. That is because I know that ...
by hamilton1
Tue Jan 03, 2017 4:40 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Pandora Close-up at Saturn (2017 Jan 03)
Replies: 12
Views: 3742

Re: APOD: Pandora Close-up at Saturn (2017 Jan 03)

I think that these types of photos raise more questions then they answer, 40,000 km is simply too far.
by hamilton1
Wed Dec 21, 2016 11:54 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Traces of the Sun (2016 Dec 21)
Replies: 29
Views: 10485

Re: APOD: Traces of the Sun (2016 Dec 21)

RedFishBlueFish wrote:In this century, unlike the last, the light of democracy seems to be flickering in the United States of America as well.
The rejection of an establishment is actually proof of a strong democracy, unless you're opposed to change of course.
by hamilton1
Sun Dec 04, 2016 11:33 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Orion and Official Star Names (2016 Dec 04)
Replies: 62
Views: 12881

Re: APOD: Orion and Official Star Names (2016 Dec 04)

RedGargoyle wrote:Today's picture is great but appeared already on 16.03.2015.
Lots of APODs get repeated.
by hamilton1
Mon Nov 14, 2016 11:56 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Super Moon vs. Micro Moon (2016 Nov 13)
Replies: 12
Views: 3505

Re: APOD: Super Moon vs. Micro Moon (2016 Nov 13)

For purely human psychological reasons (not understood) any full moon looks much bigger near the horizon than it does high in the sky. About the moon illusion... is it not simply the case that when near the horizon the moonlight is refracted by passing through a greater quantity of atmosphere, and ...
by hamilton1
Sun Nov 13, 2016 11:03 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Super Moon vs. Micro Moon (2016 Nov 13)
Replies: 12
Views: 3505

Re: APOD: Super Moon vs. Micro Moon (2016 Nov 13)

For purely human psychological reasons (not understood) any full moon looks much bigger near the horizon than it does high in the sky. About the moon illusion... is it not simply the case that when near the horizon the moonlight is refracted by passing through a greater quantity of atmosphere, and ...
by hamilton1
Sat Oct 29, 2016 12:18 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Moonset at Whitby Abbey (2016 Oct 29)
Replies: 11
Views: 3354

Re: APOD: Moonset at Whitby Abbey (2016 Oct 29)

It has always surprised me how poor and anti-climactic the ending to Dracula actually is, as if Stoker was rushing to finish the novel before his in-laws came to visit.
by hamilton1
Thu Sep 01, 2016 1:24 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Light at the End of the Road (2016 Sep 01)
Replies: 14
Views: 2762

Re: APOD: Light at the End of the Road (2016 Sep 01)

It happened to be Morehead's traditional XMAS program where they demonstrated how the Star of Bethlehem might have been a close conjunction between Jupiter and Venus (near Regulus) on June 17, 2 BC. However, " since the conjunction would have been seen in the west at sunset [as in today's APOD...
by hamilton1
Thu Aug 25, 2016 9:36 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Closest Star has Potentially Planet... (2016 Aug 25)
Replies: 56
Views: 15316

Re: APOD: Closest Star has Potentially Planet... (2016 Aug 25)

If its 'only' 4.25 light years distant, and a probe like say New Horizons (Pluto) were sent out to it, at a reported speed of ~50,000 mph (?) then a quick back of the stamp calculation says it would take ~ 4000+ years to get there Sorry RocketRon, 50000 mph is half a billion miles per year. Proxima...
by hamilton1
Fri Jul 01, 2016 10:39 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Juno Approaching Jupiter (2016 Jul 01)
Replies: 47
Views: 11115

Re: APOD: Juno Approaching Jupiter (2016 Jul 01)

When I hold my iphone at the eyepiece I get better photos than this!
by hamilton1
Thu Jun 16, 2016 11:23 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: GW151226: A Second Confirmed Source ... (2016 Jun 15)
Replies: 51
Views: 11180

Re: APOD: GW151226: A Second Confirmed Source ... (2016 Jun 15)

The naming convention for these events is annoying; GW151226 follows the American dating format but that is confusing to Europeans who would use 261215 - these are discoveries for mankind and not just Americans.
by hamilton1
Wed Apr 27, 2016 10:10 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Omega Centauri: The Brightest Star... (2016 Apr 27)
Replies: 39
Views: 4757

Re: APOD: Omega Centauri: The Brightest Star... (2016 Apr 27)

I did not think that the measurements to astronomical objects lacked so much precision. Yes indeed, even the estimated distance to the great searchlight Deneb ranges from ~1400LY to 3,000 LY. So we don't know if the light left it after the end of the Roman Empire or just when they were putting the ...
by hamilton1
Thu Apr 21, 2016 4:26 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: The Comet, the Owl, and the Galaxy (2016 Apr 21)
Replies: 9
Views: 2582

Re: APOD: The Comet, the Owl, and the Galaxy (2016 Apr 21)

Boy, they're really coming out of the woodwork today...
by hamilton1
Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:08 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves (2016 Feb 11)
Replies: 115
Views: 31399

Re: APOD: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves (2016 Feb 11)

Ann wrote: The Nobel Prize committee are known for waiting a long time before they award the prize to the person(s) behind a breakthrough discovery.
Peter Higgs might disagree.
by hamilton1
Fri Feb 12, 2016 12:07 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves (2016 Feb 11)
Replies: 115
Views: 31399

Re: APOD: LIGO Detects Gravitational Waves (2016 Feb 11)

LONG LIVE ALBERT!!! Hope he gets a Nobel Prize....He certainly deserves it. The next prize in physics should go to Thorne, Drever, and Weiss. Anything else would devalue the Physics prize as much as the nomination of Trump for the Peace Prize devalued it. Ever since it was given to three (!) left-w...
by hamilton1
Tue Feb 09, 2016 11:34 am
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: The Rise and Fall of Supernova 2015F (2016 Feb 09)
Replies: 28
Views: 14734

Re: APOD: The Rise and Fall of Supernova 2015F (2016 Feb 09)

The link for an 'even brighter supernova' doesn't seem to be working.
by hamilton1
Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:02 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: The View Toward M101 (2016 Jan 21)
Replies: 33
Views: 15627

Re: APOD: The View Toward M101 (2016 Jan 21)

Nope, the consensus seems to be 27 million LY and not 21 million.
by hamilton1
Fri Jan 15, 2016 8:08 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Wright Mons in Color (2016 Jan 15)
Replies: 32
Views: 5073

Re: A bushel & a peck & a chain around the neck.

Considering that the $$$ expended went to buy materials and pay salaries of those involved in development and construction of the probe, the $$$ aren't lost per se, they are still in circulation here. The only investment that could even be considered as Lost is the time spent. So if you wreck your ...
by hamilton1
Fri Dec 25, 2015 11:51 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: To Scale: The Solar System (2015 Dec 25)
Replies: 45
Views: 12997

Re: APOD: To Scale: The Solar System (2015 Dec 25)

Gravity is an extremely weak force, and it is the product of a distortion of spacetime by mass. A distortion that precisely explains the behavior of those "little specks of matter". Hmmm or maybe the distortion describes the behaviour of matter rather than explains it. The juxtaposition o...
by hamilton1
Mon Nov 02, 2015 11:18 pm
Forum: The Bridge: Discuss an Astronomy Picture of the Day
Topic: APOD: Comet ISON Being Destroyed by the Sun (2015 Nov 02)
Replies: 19
Views: 3471

Re: APOD: Comet ISON Being Destroyed by the Sun (2015 Nov 02)

3857 appears to be the number of "Comets Discovered " through the MPC Yes maybe they just haven't got round to cataloging all the Soho discoveries - Here's a list of Last Observation dates: http://www.minorplanetcenter.net/iau/lists/LastCometObs.html and an historical list, including hund...